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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27706052">Technopath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood'>Blue_Hood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Power Prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, Superpowers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:07:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27706052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Expansion of Chapter 1 of What Superpower Should Tony Stark Have?<br/>What if Tony could surf the web with a thought? What if thinking and scouring the internet was the same thing? How would that change the Avengers?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Power Prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Relaxing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony leaned back in his chair and let his mind wander. Unlike most people, he wasn’t limited to his own head. The vast internet opened up to him, granting him access to anything and everything except human contact. Tony had learned the hard way not to trust humans. He could never pull off the shaved head look with his scars. He could still remember the Doctor, could hear himself screaming as needles were sunk into his head and recall the tests to make sure the cure took. It took him much longer than it should have to realize that they, the Doctor and his father, would never stop until it took. If he went back in his memory banks even further, he could remember thinking his father was proud, thinking his father liked his powers. He was already enrolled at MIT before he realized that his father liked his powers the same way he likes finding new ways to make tanks go boom, as a scientist.</p><p>Tony focused on what he could control, which was a lot. He gathered information into secure files, making a one-stop shop for knowledge on a vast array of subjects, debunking myths using the existing files and expanding his knowledge banks. He found the repetition of the activity relaxing, an activity that took whole teams of human analysts months of in-depth research was Tony’s preferred way to unwind. As long as nobody found out, he would be fine.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. eXposed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Avengers being brats is a blessing and a curse, more the latter, for technopath Tony</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>On the original chapter, randomplotbunny commented: I'd love to see how post-Avengers/pre-Iron Man 3 would play out with Tony plundering SHIELD's databanks at this speed with this level of comprehension and analysis. The whole of Hydra, Insight, the Index and everything else (like their attempts to manipulate Tony into becoming their yes man and the Winter Soldier's assassination history) would be laid bare before the one man they most didn't want to ever see any of it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One simple question and like dominoes they fall. A single stray thought, a momentary lapse in his usually vigilant restraint, and the world ended for thousands of people. In Tony's defense, he didn't kill anyone directly. The question he was asking himself when his mind began to wander was: Why do I put up with these people? The people in question were the Avengers specifically and SHIELD in general. His thoughts about them narrowed down his unintentional search and he found more than enough reason to stop putting up with them. He almost drown in the information but luckily, JARVIS was still in SHIELD's systems and pulled him out, advising him "Sir, I believe it is time to let Colonel Rhodes and Miss Potts in on your little secret." With his power still active, he saw JARVIS's reasons and had to agree.</p><p>The talk went more or less the way he planned "You're a mutant technopath?" clarified Rhodey.</p><p>"Yup and I got the scars from dear old dad trying to fix me to explain why I never told you." Tony leaned further back, "Turns out he was trying to fix me to protect me from SHIELD." The relevant files appeared and judging from his friends' gaze, he wasn't just imagining their appearance. "It gets worse."</p><p>"What could be worse? They're butchering your people, Tones."</p><p>"There's two theys." A venn diagram appeared showing how SHIELD was actually SHIELDRA with links to relevant files.</p><p>"This is a lot to take in, Tony." Pepper said "But I understand why we can't take any of this home. We should probably make camp or something, sort through all of this."</p><p>"This isn't even personal. This," A new set of files appeared, "Is." Their studies on Palladium Poisoning, dated long before Tony knew he was dying and including a written list of the effects of heavy metal poisoning. Tony waited for his friends to turn to him before moving on to what SHIELD did with this knowledge, developing their temporary miracle drug- over a year before they used it- and a strategy to make the most of the mental effects of heavy metal poisoning. The agents who made the plans noting Howard Stark's tendency to not sleep when he had a problem to work on and theorizing that Tony would be the same, throwing a rundown on the effects of sleep deprivation into the mix. All in all, they had a clearly written game plan to make the most of Tony's terminal illness. "But wait, there's more. SHIELD screwing with Starks did not start with me." A video played of Peggy low-key threatening Tony to make Howard submit to her will, documents by SHIELD and HYDRA agents (the SHIELD eagle being replaced by the infamous octopus on reports written by agents JARVIS and Tony had already flagged) making note of the abuse and its usefulness. Tony was glad they were in the mansion living room when he finally got around to playing the assassination video, he liked how he was able to use a pillow to muffle his screams. Moving on, he showed records on the Winter Soldier, his friends noting the signs of insomnia he was sporting after reading SHIELD's list and seeing everything Tony had already gone through before calling them. "I don't hate Barnes, he was, well he wasn't innocent but he was pretty damn close."</p><p>"Agreed," said Rhodey. "Tones,"</p><p>"I need sleep, I know but I can't sleep alone and I'm afraid I'd hurt someone, my suits are technology and I'm a technopath. You can't escape technology in this modern world."</p><p>"Let's take it one thing at a time," Pepper said, "We'll start by getting this data onto closed systems." The two engineers looked at her. "We need some way to show it to honest, legitimate agents that doesn't involve outing Tony as a mutant, right?"</p><p>Rhodey agreed "Yeah and since Tony's a mutant, that should be pretty easy to do quickly." He stood up "Fair is fair." He held out his hand and several metal objects flew towards him, becoming almost liquid as they were reshaped into a miniature Iron Man before being dropped in Tony's lap. "We're both mutants, Tones. You have technopathy, I have metallokinesis."</p><p>"Like Magneto?"</p><p>"No, he has magnokinesis. He manipulates magnetic fields, that's how he can fly. I can only manipulate metal itself, that's partly how I beat you when you got drunk instead of telling us you were dying."</p><p>"Right."</p><p>"Tones, I can stop the armor if you summon it in your sleep."</p><p>"Right." Tony let Rhodey herd him up to bed, ordering JARVIS to give his friends access to whatever files the AI thinks they need.</p><p>The three of them were a force of nature and SHIELD crumbled under them. Barnes was extracted before he could be deployed and almost every agent of SHIELD faced some kind of felony charge, although most had thought that being SHIELD actually exempted them from certain rules which was just sad, considering those same people's IQ scores. The SHIELDRA culture fascinated many clean psychologists and served as a cautionary tale for many other less than reputable agencies.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Instead of injecting himself with microchips, Tony's technopathy is the reason he summons armors in his sleep. I made Rhodey metallokinetic because I honestly think that power suits him and it worked for the story. Where should I go with this next?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Wakanda</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For the prompt: There is Wakanda. For an isolationist 'third world country' they seem to be well versed in the technologies used by the rest of the world, not to mention for being a 'poor, textile producing' country they have more than enough excess capital to send not just the Crowned Prince but also a good many others to Oxford and other prestigious and expensive schools around the world.<br/>They are so hacking governments and banks around the World and manipulating things to their benefit. And it wouldn't surprise me any if they were also stealing brilliant new ideas/patents for themselves while sabotaging the technologies so they seem to not work and thus keep the World from catching up to them.<br/>Tony could either stumble across their monitoring code in his systems, track down his own code being run on their systems or find them actively trying to hack him; but however he becomes aware of them he can bust their whole operation open and let the World know what they've been doing.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony was still emotionally drained when Wakanda began preparing to rejoin the world. His mind saw no difference between googling Wakanda and hacking Wakanda, which led to some <em>interesting</em> discoveries. First off, the Wakandans were clearly stealing money, or rather manipulating bank systems, to send their people to prestigious universities under false pretenses, which is why Wakanda was still an unknown despite its incredible number of Oxford alumni. Second, their manipulation of bank systems were causing all kinds of economic issues, including recessions and even depressions. Third, they were lying when they identified as a textile nation. The economic crises they were causing were likely intentional as from what Tony saw when he tapped into their systems, Wakandans had a serious superiority complex. This tied into the fourth problem he had with them, they were defrauding brilliant inventors, stealing their ideas and sabotaging them to maintain their sense of superiority.</p><p>When he discovered this, along with a whole slew of other kinds of fraud, Tony was beyond fed up. He called Pepper, purposefully getting her voicemail, "Hey, if you find me dead, blame Wakanda. I'm securing the relevant files now." Then he consciously hacked into Wakanda's system. First, he returned all of the stolen money that was still missed and he altered their records of the stolen designs to match what they left the true inventors, making a note of the differences and sabotaging their works in progress. Then he left their system and raised the alarm for the institutions Wakandans had infiltrated, including the prestigious colleges they attended on false pretenses, drawing special attention to Prince T'Challa's time in Oxford since the future king would be joining his father as they tried to bring Wakanda out of isolation. Tony wondered if his defense of SI and the more stringent post-SHIELD hiring methods had anything to do with that decision, considering the combination meant any project in SI's R&amp;D was safe from Wakanda. Banishing the thought as irrelevant, he continued meting out poetic justice until he had done all he could then he activated a special program to make sure he hadn't been counter-hacked.</p><p>The Wakandans were furious but they hid it well and Shuri, the smartest member of the Royal Family, figured Tony out. Not wanting to make a scene, considering they were sticking to their lie about being a poor textile nation, she publicly invited him to join her family for dinner, knowing he couldn't refuse such an invitation. "How did you hack us?"</p><p>Tony smirked and took off his glasses "I didn't. Fair is fair, I won't out you if you don't out me. I'm a Class Four Mutant Technopath. I just think the word Wakanda and I'm already in your systems. My father, fearing what SHIELD would do if they knew, tried to fix me, to take away my power." He looked around at the family "You really don't see the connection? Alright. For a long time, I thought my father liked my powers the way he liked making things go boom, that is to say as a scientist. I didn't know about SHIELD, I was willfully ignorant the same way I was willfully ignorant to your people sabotaging my fellow inventors. The blinders are off. The money you lost when I got in your system, I was paying back your most recent bank fraud victims. I also raised red flags for your other fraud victims and made sure someone at Oxford paid attention, I expect it won't be long before they figure out who defrauded them. If you knew anything about why I became Iron Man, you'd know why I couldn't let this all slide."</p><p>Shuri smiled "People hate mutants more than anything."</p><p>"The question isn't who has the bigger secret, it's who will people believe more. Iron Man, Tony Stark, a man who cannot stand the zero accountability system that is the American war machine or a third world country that had been defrauding foreigners for over a decade and suddenly decides to call the man most likely responsible for exposing them a mutant? I don't think that's a tough call, do you?"</p><p>King T'Chaka spoke up "As you said, you won't expose us if we don't expose you."</p><p>"Nor will I let you go back to screwing over good people just because they weren't born within your borders. I expect a written account of everyone you've defrauded, every inventor whose creation you've stolen then sabotaged to keep us outsiders from catching up and I know for a fact my father is on that list. Better sign that list, as insurance. I already gave you all proof of my gift. If you can't trust people to keep their word, you can always trust them to abide by self-interest. I can lie and say SHIELDRA did what you did if you stop doing it. As we've established my being a mutant is the lesser crime, especially since I can always play the video of what my father did to me out of love. Video of a doctor my father hired drilling into my head, injecting god knows what there and waiting only long enough to confirm I still had my powers before trying again. It was Hell but it might just help if you don't hold up your end of this bargain. I know the real reason you've come out of isolation, I've seen your attempts to hack my company. Again, self-interest, you can almost set your watch by it."</p><p>King T'Chaka said "It is bad form to treat a host-"</p><p>"Your daughter set me up. Of your two kids, Princess Shuri is the smarter one by far. I'm in your systems, King T'Chaka, I know guest rights. Do you really want to go there?"</p><p>"Perhaps not."</p><p>"Justice, all I want is justice. You're ahead of the world because you cheat, you commit almost every kind of fraud there is, which reminds me too much of SHIELDRA. Did you know HYDRA killed my parents and my godparents covered it up for money and power? I can forgive the man who did it because he had been reduced to a living weapon." Tony knew enough about what justice was in Wakanda "In your country, he would barely need a trial. The mastermind would be almost fully responsible. Do you think that your technology affects your society? I do. Fueled first by Vibranium and second by fraud and third by genuine talent like your children have, your technology has enabled you to prosper while those around you live in perpetual poverty. I doubt I need to explain prosperity and poverty's effects on a society."</p><p>"No need." King T'Chaka said "If you know that much about Wakanda, you know I cannot just cede to your demands."</p><p>"If you were half as smart as your daughter, you would know I wasn't asking for anything. You have put your signature on a computer. I have all I need, I am just letting you know out of fairness."</p><p>T'Challa said, "That sounds like a threat."</p><p>"Guess how much technology each person in this room has on them then tell me you have a chance to do anything about feeling threatened." Tony said "I couldn't refuse the invitation but I never promised to be nice and Princess Shuri skipped pleasantries, moving straight to interrogation, before anyone brings up bad manners again." The rest of the meal was had in tense silence broken only by occasional bickering between T'Challa and Tony.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tony identifies as a Class Four. If I understand the X-Men movies' scale (which is only mentioned in X-Men 3, I think) then mutant powers are classed on a scale of one to five with five being borderline reality bending. In the movie, the Phoenix makes Jean an Omega class. Tony identifies as more powerful than Magneto (again, I think) but not a total big shot powerhouse. I could be wrong, he could be wrong, there's nothing in this story or the movies to clarify things. Magneto and Pyro are either class threes or class fours, it's never clear.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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